Overview
- Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie debuted at the Sundance Film Festival with Rushdie and his wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, attending.
- The documentary features previously unseen material, including hospital and recovery video Griffiths shot in the days after Rushdie was stabbed 15 times in 2022.
- Rushdie says showing the reality of the violence is essential to understanding terrorism’s impact, and he argues that authoritarian movements view culture as the enemy.
- The film adapts Rushdie’s 2024 memoir and weaves archival material, animation, and film clips to trace decades of threats following The Satanic Verses.
- Attacker Hadi Matar has been convicted of attempted second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years, and the film is currently seeking U.S. distribution.